Teenage saxophonist An Trần releases MV Còn Tuổi Nào Cho Em (Time for You) as her first move into a professional music career. Photo courtesy of the artist

The daughter of Việt Nam’s leading saxophonist Trần Mạnh Tuấn, An Trần, is following in his footsteps, attracting the attention of Vietnamese musicians and audiences.

Now 15, An has released her first music video Còn Tuổi Nào Cho Em (Time for You), featuring a song of the same name by late composer Trịnh Công Sơn.

The song, which Sơn wrote in 1964 for his love in his twenties, Dao Ánh, has been performed by both veteran and young singers such as Khánh Ly, Quang Dũng and Miu Lê.

As Còn Tuổi Nào Cho Em has a beautiful and gentle melody, Tuấn produced the MV to keep the happy memories of his daughter’s youth. He blends smooth jazz and his love for her into the song's arrangement.

“An Trần is the largest project of my life,” said the 47-year-old Tuấn, who received a scholarship to study jazz at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts in the US, and became the first Vietnamese to study there.

Tuấn invited director Điệp Văn, who has 20 years of experience in filmmaking, to make the video.

The eight-minute video tells a story of a teenage girl who is living happily with her family and friends, and has great passion for music.

The clip includes An’s family, singer Trịnh Vĩnh Trinh, Sơn’s younger sister, and businessman and singer Dương Tấn Sơn who has sung Sơn’s works for 20 years.

An’s MV Còn Tuổi Nào Cho Em earned nearly 4,300 views three days after release on YouTube.

The video has received praise from musicians and audiences.

Veteran singer Cẩm Vân said she cried while watching the MV. 

“The MV reminds me of days of raising my children. I also love the way she performed Trịnh Công Sơn’s song. It’s so pure and innocent,” Vân said.

Tuấn said: “I’m so proud of what my daughter has done. My family will do anything for An to develop her talent.”

Promising artist

Born in 2004, An, whose real name is Trần Đàm An Phúc, showed her talent at a very young age.

She began playing saxophone at 5 years old and started her studies with her father at eight.

In September 2013, she amazed nationwide audiences when sharing the stage with her father in Dấu Ấn (Hallmark), a Việt Nam Television monthly music show that honours Vietnamese musicians and singers.

She performed Bèo Dạt Mây Trôi (Water-Fern and Wandering Clouds), a popular Vietnamese folk song which is known to be hard to play, after only two months of practice.

Since then, An has joined every music project launched by her father, including the Saigon Big Band from 2013 and the album Thằng Cuội (Legendary Shepherd on the Moon) in 2016.

She has accompanied her father at numerous stages in the country and abroad, such as the ASEAN One Jazz Festival in Thailand in 2015, and a music performance for delegates to the APEC Summit in Đà Nẵng in 2017.

She performed with the Việt Nam National Symphony Orchestra in 2013, and internationally acclaimed jazz guitarist Nguyên Lê in 2018.

She was the youngest artist to be invited to perform at the “We Are ASEAN – We Are One” music programme during the ASEAN Summit in Thailand in early August.

She was chosen as the ambassador for the Trịnh Công Sơn Scholarship, which provides opportunities for young and talented Vietnamese students from disadvantaged families to pursue their passion in music and arts.

Singer Trinh shared that Trịnh Công Sơn’s family and the scholarship saw a true artist in An when she was at a young age.

“What An has done will inspire young talents to work hard to become artists,” Trinh said.

An has received authentication as an official P. Mauriot saxophone Performing Artist and Endorser. The world-known saxophone manufacturer mentioned on its website that “An Tran will surely become one of the first female Vietnamese artists to lead the world of jazz".

The artist will soon attend the Idyll Wild Arts Academy in California, with the school’s highest scholarship for an international student.

“I’m very lucky being born into a traditional music family. My family, my dad, who is also my mentor, and my friends and colleagues are always by my side at every moment of my life,” An said. VNS

GLOSSARY

The daughter of Việt Nam’s leading saxophonist Trần Mạnh Tuấn, An Trần, is following in his footsteps, attracting the attention of Vietnamese musicians and audiences.

To follow in someone’s footsteps means to end up doing what another person did.

Now 15, An has released her first music video Còn Tuổi Nào Cho Em (Time for You), featuring a song of the same name by late composer Trịnh Công Sơn.

A composer is someone who writes music.

When someone is spoken of as being “late”, it means they have died.

The song, which Sơn wrote in 1964 for his love in his twenties, Dao Ánh, has been performed by both veteran and young singers such as Khánh Ly, Quang Dũng and Miu Lê.

A veteran singer is someone with lots of experience as a singer and who sings very well.

As Còn Tuổi Nào Cho Em has a beautiful and gentle melody, Tuấn produced the MV to keep the happy memories of his daughter’s youth.

Gentle means “not strong and violent”. A melody is a tune.

“An Trần is the largest project of my life,” said the 47-year-old Tuấn, who received a scholarship to study jazz at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts in the US, and became the first Vietnamese to study there.

A scholarship is an award given to someone to study for free, or at a discount, because they have shown themselves to be brilliant.

The eight-minute video tells a story of a teenage girl who is living happily with her family and friends, and has great passion for music.

If you have a passion for something you love it so much that you do not worry how much time and energy you spend on it.

The clip includes An’s family, singer Trịnh Vĩnh Trinh, Sơn’s younger sister, and businessman and singer Dương Tấn Sơn who has sung Sơn’s works for 20 years.

A clip is a short video, or a part of a film or television programme providing a quick look at something.

The video has received praise from musicians and audiences.

Audiences are people who watch performances. 

“It’s so pure and innocent,” Vân said.

Innocent means “not having done anything wrong”.

“My family will do anything for An to develop her talent.”

Talent is natural skill.

She has accompanied her father at numerous stages in the country and abroad, such as the ASEAN One Jazz Festival in Thailand in 2015, and a music performance for delegates to the APEC Summit in Đà Nẵng in 2017.

Numerous means many.

Abroad means overseas.

Delegates are people who attend a meeting.

She performed with the Việt Nam National Symphony Orchestra in 2013, and internationally acclaimed jazz guitarist Nguyên Lê in 2018.

Acclaimed means praised.

She was chosen as the ambassador for the Trịnh Công Sơn Scholarship, which provides opportunities for young and talented Vietnamese students from disadvantaged families to pursue their passion in music and arts.

An ambassador is a special representative.

Disadvantaged means not having things in your favour to build up your life.

To pursue something means to follow it.

“What An has done will inspire young talents to work hard to become artists,” Trinh said.

To inspire someone means to make them want to go out and do something positive.

An has received authentication as an official P. Mauriot saxophone Performing Artist and Endorser.

Authentication means confirmation that something is true and not false.

An endorser is someone who says he, or she, supports someone else.

“My family, my dad, who is also my mentor, and my friends and colleagues are always by my side at every moment of my life,” An said.

A mentor is someone who is a friend and an advisor.

WORKSHEET

State whether the following sentences are true, or false:

1. An Trần’s first music video is titled Còn Tuổi Nào Cho Em (Time for You).
2. Trịnh Công Sơn wrote a song that features in the video, in 1946.
3. Berklee College of Music is in San Francisco.
4. An Trần once joined the Saigon Big Band.
5. An Trần performed at the ASEAN One Jazz Festival in Thailand, in 2017.

ANSWERS: 1. True; 2. False; 3. False; 4. True; 5. False.